Weft-replenishing mechanism for looms.



N0. 786,240. PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

' E. D. THAYER.

WEPT RBPLENISHING MECHANISM POR LOOMS.

V APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1904.

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llllEll HHJIHWEIJHJI No. 786,240. I PATENTED MAR. 28,1905.

E. n. THAYER. WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1904.

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No. 786,240. PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905.

' I E. D. THAYER. "i fiEIJT,REPLENISHING MECHANISM FUR LOOMS.

APPL'IOATION FILED AUG. 25, 1904.

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ATTUF/A/EYE UNITED STATES Patented March 28, 1905.

EDWARD D. THAYER, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO RANDOLPH CROMPTON, GEORGE CROMPTON, EDWARD D. THAYER, AND WILLIAM B. SCOFIELD, OF WVORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE FIRM-NAME OF CROMITON-THAYEE LOOM COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

WEFT-REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOIVIS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,240, dated March 28, 1905.

Application filed August 25,1904. Serial No. 222,036.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDWARD D. THAYER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Worcester, county of Worcester, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in I/Veft-Replenishing Mechanism for tion of the filling from the running shuttle,

and with looms of this class a weft-fork has been used solely for stopping the loom when the filling breaks. Provision for supplying filling prior to total exhaustion and for stopping the loom when the filling breaks are essential in a loom for weaving perfect cloth.

The incorporation in a loom of means for feeling through the shuttle onto the mass of filling therein to start into operation at the proper time the means to supply filling complicates the loom, as such mechanism is and must be very sensitive.

In broad looms, which should be run each by its own operator, I have found that the practical exhaustion of filling may be readily detected by the sight of the operator, and consequentlyIhave devisedamanually-controlled device that the operator just before complete exhaustion of the filling may move to start into operation means for resupplying a running shuttle-box with filling, thus obviating the stopping of the loom to supply filling after practical exhaustion of filling from the running shuttle, and to stop the loom in case the filling breaks, which cannot be detected in advance, I employ a filling-fork. The filling-supplying means made operative by the manually-controlled device contains but few parts and is novel and simple in construction.

In my novel loom the lay is provided with a cage for the reception of a spare shuttle containing filling, and for the running shuttle I employ a shuttle-box movable between the race of the lay and the cage, said shuttle-box, as shown, having a depending receptacle for the spent shuttle, the latter shuttle entering said receptacle, while the movable shuttle-box occupies its elevated position for the reception of the spare shuttle from the cage.

Believing that I am the first to employ in an operative loom with a weft-fork to stop the loom when the weft breaks filling-supplying means that may be operated at any desired time by a manually-controlled device, I do not intend to limit my invention to exactly the form of filling-supplying mechanism herein shown and intend to hold as within the scope of my invention any usual devices now commonly employed in looms for supplying filling to be carried through the shed.

It is not possible to use one and the same fillingfork for stopping the loom on the breakage of filling and for insuring a fresh supply of filling prior to substantial exhaustion.

Figure 1, in front elevation, shows part of the right-hand end of a loom with the shuttlebox E omitted. Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1, showing the shuttle-box. Fig. 3 is a righthand end elevation of the loom, Fig. 1, the shuttle-box E being in section on the line m, Fig. 2, and the shuttle omitted. Fig. 4 is a perspective detail showing the movable shuttle-box in positon to receive a spare shuttle, the spent shuttle being shown as having entered the spent-shuttle receptacle. Fig. 5 is a plan view of part of the left-hand end of the loom having the plain shuttle-box and showing a filling-fork to control the stopping of the loom when the filling breaks. Fig. 6 is a detail showing how a spare shuttle is supplied by hand to the spare-shuttle cage. Fig. 7 is a section in the line y ;2 Fig. 5, looking to the right.

The loom-frame A, breast-beam A, layswords A pivoted on the rocker-shaft A and carrying the lay-beam A, sustaining the reed A and hand-rail A, the cam or lower shaft B, having a toothed wheel I5 meshing with the smaller toothed wheel B fast on the crankshaft B the connecting-rods B", the bindertinger B", connected with the protector-rod I00 B, having the daggerB, the picker-stick B, the stop-motion rock-shaft C, located under the breast-beam and having the usual shipper handle (5 and the box-rod (l the pickers U" and picker-guide rods (l are and may be all as usual. In accordance with my invention the hand-rail of the lay is provided with a cage D for the reception of a spare shuttle a, the cage having a binder D pivoted thereon at D and acted upon by a spring D. The free end of the filling (6, led from the usual delivery-eye of the shuttle, is shown as carried over the cage and connected to some fixed stud or device of the lay.

The movable shuttle-box E, from which the running shuttle is thrown by the pickers across the race of the lay into the plain shuttle-box E at the opposite end of the lay (see Fig. and back again pick after pick, is of peculiar construction i. 6., it is composed of metal presenting ends 30 31, that are guided in usual ways 32 33, rigid with relation to the lay. The shuttle-box E has a top cell a that when the loom is weaving and there is a sufficient supply of filling in the shuttle being thrown from said box occupies a position at the level of the race of the lay, as in Fig. 3. Under the cell a the box presents a shelf a, (see Fig. 4,) sustained by depending arms 0 a of the box, the shelf and arms constituting the spent-shuttle receptacle. The sh u ttle-box rod C is attached to the under side of the shelf 6 and the rod in practice will be surrounded, as usual, with a spring as. The shuttle-box cell has an car on which is pivoted at c a binder a the end a of which coacts with the binder-finger B to hold the dagger B in such position when the shuttle is in the box as to insure the proper running of the loom. The binder a is acted upon by a spring (5 fixed at one end to the shuttle-box. The top of the cell of the shuttle-box at its inner end is cut out to form a space a, said space making it possible to use a shorter and lighter weight-cage D and permitting the end of the spare shuttle to project from the cage and occupy a position partly in the cage 0 of the movable box E as the latter is lifted, as will be described and as shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, to receive the spare shuttle. The lower end of the shuttle-box red C has a stud l), on which is pivoted a hook 6, shown as having an arm 7/ extended through a suitable guide 6, the weight of the said arm in the present instance of this invention acting normally to keep said hook in its normal inoperative position, as shown by full lines, Fig. 3. with its upper end in contact with a haml-lever I)", mounted on a stud The shaft B has a disk 7), provided with a groove F, that receives a roller or other stud If, carried by the short arm of a lever l)", having its hub mounted on a stud at the loom end. As the shaft B is rotated the camgroove 6 moves the lever Z)" from one to its other extreme position, Fig. 3, said lever rising and falling once during each two strokes of the lay, it rising as the lay is moving forward and falling as the lay is moving backward. So long as the filling in the shuttle is not exhausted to the point where the missing of a pick would result in the production of imperfect cloth, which exhaustion may be determined by the eye of the operator looking at the running shuttle, the lever U will be moved by cam 71 but will do no work; but the operator as soon as he or she sees that the filling is nearly exhausted engages the handlever 0 turns the same to move the hook 5' into its abnormal or operative position, (see dotted lines, Fig. 3,) so that as the lever b" is raised its end will engage said hook and lift the box-rod and move the box E from the position Fig. 3 into the position Fig. i. The hook, lever, and its actuating means constitute one good simple and practical form of device for actiiiating the movable shuttle-box that it may receive a spare shuttle, and the hand-lever and hook constitute one good form of manually-controlled device for determining at will the exact time at which the running filling shall be discharged and new filling supplied; but, as before stated, this invention is not limited to the particular construction shown for said manually-controlled device nor the particular construction of the means shown by which to raise and lower the movable shuttlebox. When the manually-eontrolled device is moved, the shuttle-box is started upwardly while the running-shuttle is crossing from the movable shuttle-box end to the plain box end of the lay, and the then-empty cell 0 of said box is placed opposite the cage containing the spare shuttle, and the spent shuttle in its flight across the loom from the plane shuttle-box end of the lay enters the spentshuttle receiver, as shown in Fig. 4, and while i the movable box is opposite said cage the spare shuttle is moved from the cage into the cell c, as will now be described.

The lay a is provided with ears 0, that sustain a rod 0, on which is mounted a picker 0, that is normally held in its position-farthest from the movable shuttle-box E by a spring 0' (Shown in Fig. 2.) The picker 0 has joined to it one end of a cord 0, that is connected at its other end with a drum 0 carried by a shaft a, rotatable in suitable bearings 0 (see Fig. of the lay, said shaft at its lower end having a smaller drum o with which is attached one end of a second cord 0 led through a hole in the lay and provided, as shown, with a hook c". The action of the spring a on the picker 0 winds the cord c on the pulley 0 Now whenever the movable shuttleboX is raised to provide for supplying fresh filling thereto an arm (Z, (see Fig. 3,) carried by the shuttle-box E, meets the under side of the hook c as the lay is moving forwardly and lifts said hook and causes it to be engaged by The free end of the binder Dis shown as outturned, so that the end of a spare shuttle may be inserted easily into the cage while the lay is in motion.

The shuttle-box E has an attached auxiliary binder 6 (see Fig. 4,) that receives against it the binder-finger B as the shuttle-box is raised to remove a spare shuttle, as in Fig. 4, and said binder has a toe 0 that is acted upon by the spent shuttle as it comes. back onto the shelf a of the spent-shuttle receiver. Theincoming spent shuttle acts through the finger to prevent the dagger B from being dropped to knock ofl and stop the loom. When the shuttle-box E in the position Fig. 8 has been supplied with a spare shuttle, said box drops and the finger passes from contact with the auxiliary binder and comes in operative relation on the usual binder e Inasmuch as the short end of the auxiliary binder contacts only with the rear end of the spent shuttle, as shown in Fig. 4, when said shuttle fully enters the spent-shuttle receiver the spent shuttle may be easily discharged from the shelf and leave the loom in the movement of the lay. The shaft B is in two parts end to end, and each part has a like binder-finger B and a dagger B that acts in usual manner to stop the loom when the shuttle fails to be properly boxed.

The lay carries a filling-forkf, that feels during each movement of the lay for the filling a, (see Fig. 7,) which is supposed to be laid upon the race of the lay after each crossing of the shuttle from one to its opposite box, and when the filling is absent the fork enters the spacef and lowers the dogf so that as the lay completes its forward stroke in case the filling is absent said dog meets and turns an arm it pivoted on a shield causing a pin it, carried by said arm, to meet and knock ofi the finger it and turn the rock-shaft h, sustained under the breast-beam in a suitable bracket if, connected therewith, causing an arm 73, having a pin, (see Fig. 7,) to meet the arm if. fast on the rock-shaft if, and turn the same that the latter may meet the knock-off lever 7L6 and turn the same to effect the release of the usual shipping mechanism that when released coacts with theusual driving and brake mechanisms to stop the loom. The

ticular mechanism shown in detail Fig. 7 I may use any other suitable stop-motion mechanism whereby when the filling breaks or is absent from the lay when the feeler descends the loom will be stopped.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a loom, a lay, filling-changing mechanism comprising a shifting shuttle-box, manually-controlled means for operating the same,

and independent means to stop the loom on the occurrence of fault in the filling.

2. In a loom, a lay, a spare-shLittle-carrying cage mounted thereon and movable with the lay, a movable shuttle-box to contain a running shuttle, and manually-controlled means for raising the movable shuttle-box in line with said cage to receive a spare shuttle to be delivered to the race of the lay at the descent of the shuttle-box.

3. In a loom, a lay provided with a spareshuttle cage mounted on and movable with the lay, and having a movable shuttle-box for sustaining a running shuttle, means to move said shuttle-box in position of alinement with the spare-shuttle cage, and devices to cause the spare shuttle in said cage to be transferred to the said shuttle-box.

4:. In a loom, a lay, a spare-shuttle cage and a movable shuttle-box carried thereby, and manually-controlled means for causing the movable shuttle-box to be placed in position opposite said cage for the reception of a spare shuttle and to then place said shuttle at the level of the race of the lay, and independent means to stop the loom on the occurrence of fault in the filling.

5. In a loom, a lay, a spare-shuttle cage, a movable shuttle-box to contain a running shuttle, means to throw the running shuttle across the lay, manually-controlled means to move said shuttle-box when the running shuttle is in the opposite box into position opposite the spare-shuttle cage, and automatic means operating as the lay retires from the breast-beam to throw the spare shuttle into the cell of the moving shuttle-box.

6. In a loom, a lay, a spare-shuttle cage, a movable shuttle-box to contain a running shuttle, means to throw the running shuttle across the lay, manually-controlled means to move said shuttle-box when the running shuttle is in the opposite box into position opposite the spare-shuttle cage, and automatic means operating as the lay retires from the breast-beam to throw the spare thread into the cell of the moving shuttle-box, said movable shuttle-box having a chamber for the reception of the spent shuttle from the plain shuttle-box of the lay while the cell of the shuttle-box is opposite said cage.

7. In a loom, a lay, and a spare-shuttle cage sustained thereby combined with a movable shuttle-box having a cell at its upper end cut IIO out at its top next the inner end of the spareshuttle cage whereby the spare shuttle in said cage may be maintained therein with its outer end extended into the plane of the vertical movement of said shuttle-box substantially as described.

8. In a loom, a lay, a spare-shuttle cell mounted on and movable with the lay, a movable shuttle-box, means to lift an empty cell thereof opposite the spare-shuttle cage, and means carried by the lay to move the spare shuttle from said spare-shuttle cage into the inner end of the empty cell of the movable shuttle-box.

9. In a loom, a movable shuttle-box having at its upper end a cell for a running shuttle, and having below said cell a shelf to sustain 

